


reap what you sow

by somehowunbroken



Series: The Grass is Greener [2]
Category: DCU, X-Factor (Comics)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-29
Updated: 2014-01-29
Packaged: 2018-01-10 11:13:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1159026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somehowunbroken/pseuds/somehowunbroken
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes planting things is as good for the soul as it is for the environment. Not that any of them would ever say it out loud, good god.</p>
            </blockquote>





	reap what you sow

It takes Tim a really, really long time to realize that someone is following them.

They've gotten good at dodging people, is the thing. They've pretty much had to; even though the public reaction to the media-dubbed "Green Team" has been popular, there's been some grumbling about _proper chains of authority_ and _asking goddamned permission_. It's been three months since Mutant Town Park materialized, and Julio, Jason, and Tim have turned seventeen other condemned lots in the New York metropolitan area into greener places since then. Nobody in any position of power has said anything about stopping them, but it's an election year, and nobody wants to be the guy who hates the environment.

So yeah, between their day jobs as auxiliary members of X-Factor and their night jobs as the environmentalist version of a drive-by, Tim had been pretty sure that they'd all become a little more careful about checking their surroundings. Nobody can take you by surprise if you're looking for them, or so Tim had figured, so he'd ignored the flickers at the edge of his teleporting, the white-orange flash that occasionally followed when Tim popped something into place. It couldn't actually be someone following them, tracking them. He'd notice, or Jason or Julio would.

As it turns out, not so much.

"Hello," the redhead says, smiling broadly. _He's attractive_ , is the first thing Tim thinks, _even with the ridiculous facial tattoo_. The thought immediately following that one is _we have to make sure this guy is okay before Julio meets him_.

"Uh," Tim hears, and hell, there goes his plan, right out the window. He sighs and turns around, trying to will Julio's somewhat stunned expression off of his face. "Hi. Who're you?"

"I am Shatterstar," he replies. "I've been following your group for quite some time."

"Really," Jason says. Tim doesn't have to face him to know that Jason's narrowing his eyes. "Why's that?"

"I'm interested in what you're making," Shatterstar replies. "It seems… different."

There's a moment of silence in which Tim can almost hear Jason's skepticism rising before he says, "From…?"

"The fighting," he says. "I've seen your battles as well, and while-"

"Oak, don't strangle him," Tim snaps. The vines growing up Shatterstar's legs freeze in place mid-thigh, and he shifts, clearly trying to move.

"That's handy," Shatterstar says. He cocks his head and flicks his wrists, and suddenly he's holding a bunch of swords and making threatening motions at the vines. "However…"

"Jesus, don't," Jason says, waving his hands. "Don't take it out on the plants, man, they're just following orders."

Tim sighs. "Oak, let him go. He hasn't threatened us, and frankly, I'm betting that he could've made a lot of trouble for us without announcing himself had he wanted to."

"I could have," Shatterstar says. It doesn't sound like he's bragging at all, more like he's just agreeing with stated facts.

"That doesn't mean I don't want an explanation," Tim says, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why you're following us, and why you've been doing it for 'quite some time' without letting us know who you were."

Shatterstar turns his hands again, and the swords disappear. That's… okay, Tim knows that Wolverine has the whole retractable claws thing. Maybe the swords are this guy's ability, though that doesn't explain the fact that Tim can almost feel some sort of mind power rolling off the guy.

"And you," Tim says, turning to Julio, "do you have anything to add?"

"Nope," Julio says. At least he's got the puppydog face under control. "I'm interested in what he has to say, though."

"Of course you are," Tim mutters. "Well, let's go somewhere we can talk, and we'll see what happens from there."

"I'd love to," Shatterstar says, "but I seem to be somewhat rooted in place, and I've been asked not to free myself."

" _Oakenshield_ ," Tim hisses. "Let him go."

Jason sighs. "You ruin all of my fun," he announces, but the vines slither back down Shatterstar's legs and root themselves along the ground. "Popcorn, you're a fun ruiner."

Shatterstar is looking at Jason curiously. "You are Oakenshield? Named after Thorin, son of Thráin, son of Thrór?"

"Hey," Jason says, visibly brightening. "You know _The Hobbit_?"

"I do," Shatterstar says. "I'm quite fond of movies. I've been told that the book is very good as well, but I haven't had the chance to read it."

"As long as you turn out to not actually be, like, a Skrull or something, I'll lend you a copy," Jason promises. "Everyone should read _The Hobbit_."

"Except Skrulls?" Shatterstar asks, moving to follow as Jason starts walking away.

"Except Skrulls," Jason agrees. "All Skrulls need to do is stay the hell away from Earth. They don't deserve Tolkien."

"Amen," Julio says, going after Jason and Shatterstar. None of them look back towards Tim.

"This is just fantastic," Tim says, blowing out a breath before jogging to catch up.

-0-

As it turns out, Shatterstar – which quickly gets shortened to Star, thanks to Jason "Nicknames Mean I Love You" Todd – has been following them on and off for a month, which is roughly three weeks longer than Tim had noticed the weird flashing he'd attributed to… okay, so he'd ignored it. He's trying really hard not to be mad about that, he is, but it's difficult to reconcile his paranoia with the fact that Star isn't actually a Skrull or anything else that might be trying to kill… well, everyone. He's a little out there, but Tim figures there's some leeway to be had in regard to weirdness. They're mutants, after all, and their hobby is making stealth plants.

"I'm a warrior," Star says when Tim asks for more than his name. "I'm not from your planet, but I've found myself here after fighting my way off of my own."

"A refugee," Julio says, nodding. "So you're not a mutant?"

Star shrugs. "No."

"No fun powers?" Julio presses. He's playing it all fake-casual, but Tim has seen Julio at his most actual-casual, five in the morning in cat pawprint boxers eating cereal out of a Cool Whip tub. He knows there's nothing casual about the way Julio is sitting, carefully sprawled across just enough of the sofa so he's not actually in Star's space.

"I can teleport," Star volunteers. "I have yet to find a limit on who or what I can transport, though I do need time to recharge between trips."

That's useful, Tim thinks. He'd run into his own limits the hard way, three thugs running after him and Jason before they'd left Gotham, and Tim grabbing Jason's arm and thinking _home_ as hard as he could. That was followed by Jason quietly asking what the hell he was doing, hey, he needs that arm to punch the shit out of those guys. Tim spent the next few minutes confused about why he hadn't teleported and maybe working himself into a bit of a panic about his powers possibly going haywire while Jason, true to his word, punched the shit out of those guys. Once their attackers were tied up and the police were called, Tim took a deep breath and popped into his apartment, then back to Jason, then into his apartment and back again. They've since figured that he can't bring other people with him, for whatever reason.

Well, there'll be time to figure out what Star's limits are later. If he sticks around, that is. Tim clears his throat. "So what now?"

"Now?" Julio echoes.

"Now," Tim repeats. "We've all met each other, we know the very basics. What now?" He turns to Star. "I mean, there has to be a reason you decided to stop hiding from us. What is it?"

"I'm not sure," Star says, shrugging a little. "I wanted to meet you, I suppose. You do interesting things, and it's unlike what I'm used to."

Jason frowns. "What, no flowers on your planet?"

"Very few," Star says. "And there are fewer who would feel the need to spread them. I find them beautiful, and I wanted to see… more."

Julio reaches out with his foot to kick Tim's calf. "We could use a teleportation power like he's got, Pops."

"Can you not," Tim sighs. He needs a new code name ASAP. Possibly yesterday. "But yes, it could help. We'd be able to get farther than we can with Lily."

"Lily?" Star asks. "I didn't know there was another member of your team."

"It's the car," Julio says. "I'd say it's a long story, but the story is mostly 'Oak,' so it's actually fairly self-explanatory."

Jason rolls his eyes. "Right, Ric, like you wouldn't have named her something like 'Earthquake McGee.'"

"No," Julio defends. "Maybe, I don't know, 'The Tectonic'-"

"Your heart will rumble on and on," Jason sings. "Her name's Lily. Not up for debate."

"Anyway," Tim cuts in. "I guess you can stick around and help out, if that's what you want to do." He'd grown up paranoid, but that's Gotham for you; it says a lot about the place that New York City feels like a safer space than his hometown had. Tim can't imagine himself – or Jason, for that matter – trusting someone so immediately, not if they'd been approached in Gotham, but they've both long since learned that Gotham's rules don't apply to the world at large, and that not letting yourself trust anyone makes more weaknesses than strengths.

Star smiles and Tim can almost feel Julio's heartbeat pick up. "I accept."

-0-

As it turns out, Star can get them anywhere in the world that they want, as long as they have a good picture of the place and Julio tags along. Jason nudges Tim when Star explains something about anchors without looking away from Julio, but Tim can't begrudge Julio any happiness that he can find.

"You can probably see the little heart balloons popping above his head from space," Jason says when Star and Julio leave for whatever they're doing for the afternoon. "We should call M and have her check."

"Right, because inviting Monet to make fun of Julio's relationship isn't opening any doors for retribution down the line," Tim replies. He's pretty sure that he and Julio aren't going to be roommates for much longer; it had been cramped enough when it was the two of them and occasionally Jason, but now it's the two of them plus Jason and Star more often than not, and it's just… not really practical. Tim has been thinking about talking to Jamie, seeing if his offer of joining X-Factor on a more full-time basis still comes with rooms attached. 

Jason shrugs and leans back on the sofa. "I can take her."

"She will uproot all of your plants," Tim says patiently. She's done it before, and Tim somehow doubts she'd be nice enough to leave all the roots attached a second time. "Besides, we have better things to do than waste Monet's time."

"Eh, she and Terry are shopping somewhere overseas today anyway," Jason says, turning his head to look at Tim. "What do we have to do?"

"Research." They've done five more parks in the two weeks since Star has shown up; since they're no longer constrained by things like how far they can get in Jason's car or travel time, they've done some branching out. Jason's new goal is to plant something in every state, and Tim is just wondering how long it'll be before they start getting more than the local newspapers' attention.

"Can we go to Georgia next?" Jason asks, reaching for Tim's laptop and opening it. "I want to plant some big-leaf magnolia, and they'll do well there."

"Sure, let's find a place," Tim says. They spend some time searching, finding and discarding a bunch of locations before narrowing it down to a handful. They'll look those over with Julio and Star later, and they'll probably end up going in the next day or two.

"Awesome," Jason says when Tim bookmarks the last of the possible locations. He rests his hands on his stomach and drums his fingers against his shirt. "So I've been thinking."

"Dangerous," Tim comments, shutting his laptop. "Should I be concerned?"

"Wow, you're hilarious," Jason mutters, reaching over to poke Tim in the ribs. "I know we decided not to go back after we finished with each place, but… I wonder."

"Wonder about what?"

"How they're _doing_ ," Jason says, curling his fingers into Tim's shirt. "Are people taking care of them? Are there animals moving in? Is the bayberry getting enough sun, because I'm not rally convinced that I put it in the right spot when we were in Boston-"

"I'm sure the bayberry is fine," Tim says. He's not sure what bayberry is, shrub or tree or flower, but he's absolutely sure that Jason would have paid attention to something as important as the placement of each thing he planted. "If you're that worried, we can go back and check, but we should probably wait for Julio and Star to get back. Boston's pretty far away."

"Let's go to our park, then," Jason says. He's still holding onto Tim's shirt, and Tim can feel the heat from his fingers seeping through the fabric. "Bring your camera. I know you want to take before-and-after pictures of all of these places we've fixed up."

"I don't have any before shots," Tim points out, lacing his fingers with Jason's.

Jason squeezes Tim's fingers. "Doesn't mean you don't want the pictures anyway."

He's got a point and he knows it, which is dangerous, in Tim's opinion. Still, it would be nice to have pictures of the parks they've created, so Tim unlaces their fingers and stands up. "Let me get my camera."

-0-

It takes a few weeks, but Tim manages to get pictures of all of their parks. He starts taking the before shots, too; it's fun to work with his camera again, and it's nice to have a record, even if it's under encryption on a hidden partition of Tim's hard drive. Jason has always laughed at the paranoia that Tim couldn't shake off after leaving Gotham, but he tends to listen to his gut when the feeling pops up.

They've been making a bit of a name for themselves with the media, too; like Tim figured, since they started spreading out, the news coverage of the parks popping up along the Eastern seaboard has been getting more and more attention. Part of him wishes they'd stop making such a big deal out of it, but mostly he just wishes that everyone could agree on a name for the team.

"Guys," Julio says excitedly one evening. Tim's in the middle of packing, trying to decide whether or not he should just throw out his basket of unmatched socks and start over when he unpacks at X-Factor headquarters, and Jason is lounging on the bed, being completely unhelpful. Tim promises himself that he won't help Jason pack his own stuff, but he's already pretty sure he'll end up doing it anyway. "Guys, look, they're asking for us!"

"Who's doing what now," Jason asks, sitting up. "Where's Star?"

"Here," Star says, poking his head into Tim's room. "It's very crowded in the room, and I already know the news. I'm here for emotional support if needed."

Tim raises an eyebrow. "This is something that's going to require emotional support?"

"Get up here on the bed and hold me," Jason demands. "Come on, I made you a warm spot."

"I'm not a cat," Tim grumbles, but Jason pats the bed anyway, so Tim climbs up and curls in a little. "What's up, Julio?"

"Look," he says, dumping his computer into Tim's lap.

The website is for a newspaper for a town in Utah that Tim has never heard of; the banner at the top of the site proclaims that it's "the best small town west of the Great Salt Lake!" Tim raises his eyebrow but scrolls down, skimming the article. Apparently, a fire had blazed through the downtown area a week ago; the story is about the businesses that had been destroyed and plans for the future of the area. Tim frowns, ready to scroll back up to the top so he can read more closely, but Jason makes a noise and leans in.

"There," he says, pointing to one of the photographs. "Zoom in. Does that say what I think it says?"

Tim clicks on the picture and it pops up full-screen. It's the side of one of the burnt-out buildings, and it looks like a hundred other buildings that they've taken down in the past few months, except this time the graffiti is fresh.

"Oh my god," Tim says, slightly awed at what he's looking at. "They're asking for us."

"I told you," Julio crows, snatching his laptop back and clicking rapid-fire. "Here, look."

He turns the laptop back around, and all of the photographs are blown up so it's easier to see the writing. _make me into flowers_ , the first building says, with a few cartoonish plants painted next to it. _i want to be a tree!!_ the next one proclaims.

The last one makes Tim groan, and Jason snorts as he reads it aloud. "'Please help us, land fairies,'" he says. " _Land fairies_. I vote Monet never sees this. All in favor?"

"Aye," Tim and Julio say in unison.

"I don't know," Star says thoughtfully from the doorway. "It's kind of charming, isn't it?"

Tim glances at Jason, who shakes his head minutely, so Tim turns back to Julio. "You get to handle that one."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Julio says, waving his hand. "When are we going? Should we call ahead or something?"

Tim shakes his head. "Better if we just go," he says. "The less they have to trace us by, the less of a chance we actually get stuck with Land Fairies."

"That would be our luck," Jason says, making a face. "Anyway, let's get a seed packet together and go. Our adoring public demands it."

"Right," Tim says dryly, but he's already closing his eyes and finding a mental space for all the burned-out rubble.

-0-

They arrive just outside of town in the afternoon; it's a lot less likely that people will notice the weird glowing X that pops out a bunch of people in a huge old car when it's light out than it would be in the middle of the night. It takes them almost half an hour to get to the site of the fire, but when they do, Jason lets out a low whistle.

"This is going to take some time," he says, gesturing with one hand as they drive slowly by. "I mean, Tim, can you even remove that much stuff in one go?"

"I… maybe?" Tim hedges. "It's bigger than it looked in the picture."

Julio frowns. "I need to figure out the lay of the land before you move anything out," he says. "There are some big fault lines around here. I don't want to sink California because I did too much at once."

"Recon," Star says, perking up. "We should come back after dark, and we should wear dark clothing so we're not noticed."

"What movie is that even from?" Jason asks, looking at Star in the rearview mirror. "I thought we took your Mission Impossible DVDs away."

Star shrugs. "I found the James Bond ones. I like the espionage."

"Of course you do," Julio says. "You'd leave me for Daniel Craig, wouldn't you?"

There's a moment of appraising silence before Star shakes his head. "He's an actor. He's very good at pretending, but I can still tell he's lying with his body in many of the fights."

"And that's bad?" Julio asks, frowning.

"Of course it is," Star says. "All the things I like about him are lies, and all the things I like about you are truths."

Jason shoots Tim a half-panicked look that Tim is sure is mirrored on his own face. Tim clears his throat. "Uh, that's… really sweet, honestly, but maybe you guys should have this conversation later?"

"Yeah," Julio says quickly, but when Tim glances into the back seat, he can see that they're holding hands. Sometimes Tim has no idea what to even _do_ with the two of them, and this is definitely one of those times.

"Okay," Tim says when the silence starts getting weird. "So how do we want to do this?"

They end up finding a pizza joint not too far from the site of the fire. They place a pretty big order, and Tim sighs and mentally resigns himself to eating a lot of chicken tenders in the next day or so. He's got to load up on protein if he's going to be moving as much stuff around as it looks like he'll need to.

"I can make it work with the seeds I brought," Jason says when he's halfway through his pizza. "I mean, get it to grow, get it to spread. It's not too big a deal."

"I want to walk around a little," Julio says. "Get a feel for the plates and stuff." He shrugs. "Better safe than sorry."

"Or sinking some islands offshore," Tim adds as he finishes his chicken tenders. "I don't think I can get it all at once," he says after a minute. "I mean, it would be a stretch to find a place that's big enough to put everything anyway, but add in how big most of the remaining pieces would be… I'd like to be able to tell M that I still haven't passed out from doing this."

Star opens his mouth, but Julio beats him to it. "I think he means without lying, Star."

"Ah," Star says, nodding. "Well, we can make it a two-trip project. I can return us to New York when Tim is ready, and we can come back to finish at a later date."

"Or you could talk to Mason," their server says cheerily, dropping off another round of drinks. Tim jumps and sees Jason do the same in his peripheral vision. "You're the land guys, right? The park people?"

"Park people is better than land fairies," Star says, looking at Julio.

"No, Star," Julio says with a sigh. "Uh. How much of that did you hear?"

She waves a hand. "Your secret's safe with me, boys. I mean it, though; Mason lost two buildings in the fire, but he's still got the bed and breakfast at the top of the hill. He's the one who suggested we try to track you all down, see if you could maybe make something pretty out of all the ashes."

"That's the plan," Jason says, smiling and tipping his chair back a little. "Mason, huh? You think he'd be able to spare a room for us to crash in for a few hours between one half of the park and the other?"

The waitress smiles. "For the people who're about to make this place a lot less gloomy? I'm sure he would."

-0-

They end up staying the night, mostly because Tim only avoids passing out because he knows there's a bed waiting if he holds on until Jason finishes. Mason does, indeed, give them a place to stay, and he outright refuses to take any money for it. He'd tried to get them to stick around and do an interview with the paper that had drawn them to the town in the first place, but once they'd explained about secret identities, he'd agreed to help them sneak away instead.

"This is good," Star says the next morning as they're preparing to leave. "This place, helping these people… it's a good feeling."

"It is," Jason agrees, clapping him on the back. "The planet is pretty happy about it, too."

Julio nods. "Good news all around."

"It's true, the line they sang in the movie," Star says, looking at Julio. "I know you said it was unrealistic, all the singing and dancing, but I liked that one."

Tim raises an eyebrow. "Context, Star. What movie, what line?"

" _Rent_ ," he says as he crosses his swords to create the portal. "'The opposite of war isn't peace, it's creation.'"

"Huh," Jason says. "Interesting way to look at it."

"It works, though," Tim says, and nobody challenges him on it. It's as good as agreement, and as Jason drives Lily through the portal, Tim figures that's probably good enough.

**Author's Note:**

> (land fairies totally sticks btw)
> 
> (MONET)


End file.
